It has been mentioned on this Forum that Humprey Smith of Samuel Smith Old Brewery (Tadcaster) made it on to "The Times Rich List" some time ago, and it has been said that this is where many issues have stemmed from. I've had a look around, but can't find any reference to this at all. Does anybody have any links or further information to confirm this?

I raised this point in an e-mail to the compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List, and the Smith family have never appeared. The Sunday Times is well aware of them but by trading through unlimited companies there is no evidence of their actual wealth. Given the family's love of legal action, you can't blame the papers for wanting to be 100% certain of what they publish.

I can confirm what yorkie says - I have also corresponded with the compiler of the Sunday Times Rich List. I think it says something when one of the largest media empires in the world (News International - Rupert Murdoch) with equally deep pockets and access to the best libel lawyers, choose not to take Humphrey Smith on. As a result I am reliably informed Humphrey has, and never will, feature in the said Rich List.

It would seem Humphrey went ballistic when an article in the Sunday Times finance section about 10 years ago suggested he might be the richest man in Yorkshire. It is said this article led to exchanges of solicitors letters and was the reason Humphrey ordered all Brewery signage to be removed from his pubs, in the naive belief that people would not be able to tot up his wealth. So the task seems to have fallen to this site...............

With the publication this weekend, hopefull we can place Humphrey in the list, as he won't be included like last year. Surely he must be in he top 30 odd people of the richest people in the United Kingdom. I know we can only guess at how much he's really worth.

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The opinions that I express are my own !! A Fan of SSOB products. Time for a pint of OBB

antthe2nd

simon cowell,paul mccartney, sting, theo wotzit of dragons den dont come even close to his wealth, why the foooook is he so unhappy and disruptive when he should be on a yaught in the warmest part of earth checking in on buisness every 4 months,,,

Humphrey doesn't seem very happy unless he upsetting a manager somewhere in his empire. He should living the high life by now, at his age. But remember he loves wearing old suits and shoes from the chairty shop. The strangest man in Yorkshire. So is he richer than Sir Ken Morrison, i think he had about ?1.6bn last year.

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The opinions that I express are my own !! A Fan of SSOB products. Time for a pint of OBB

Well, as expected, another year in which one of the richest families in Britain doesn't feature in "The definitive guide to wealth in Britain and Ireland" as the Sunday Times describes their 'Rich List'. It would seem that inclusion depends on the willingness of the individuals involved and if you are incredibly rich and absolutely relish spending a fortune on lawyers, you don't get included. So it's not a 'definitive' list at all, but rather a 'voluntary' list. If you take some trouble to hide your wealth, don't co-operate with the compiler and threaten court action, you don't feature. I wonder just how many other Humphrey Smiths there are out there, breathing a sigh of relief and chuckling about their missing entries? Such is the power of our 'Landed Gentry' that not even Private Eye have shown any interest in tackling this topic. No wonder cynicism is a national pastime!

I still don't think that the Smith brothers are worth anything like as much as people think. The last accounts available (from 1982) show the net worth of the company at a shade under ?20million. Even if the value of the company has increased tenfold (rather unlikely, even with the addition of subsidiaries) that's still 'only' ?200 million now. More importantly freehold fixed asset costs were shown at ?12.5million, so again, even if we make a wild assumption that they've increased in value ten times, that's ?125 million.

The big BUT is that the main value within the company is the freehold assets - the pubs - and the overall capital value of pubs in the UK has less than doubled since 1982. OK, a good few - particularly the London pubs - are in prime locations and would fetch a tidy sum but the majority are certainly not located in prime areas. I'd be surprised if the net worth of the brewery company is more than about ?50 million. Then there's the other trading companies like Sarah Brownridge, which must be worth a few million, the farms, more millions, and any other property, a few more millions. How about a finger in the wind and say they're worth around ?100 million?

Well OBB the thing is that we're all almost completely in the dark when it comes to assessing the total wealth of this family so in a sense anyones guess is as good as the next man. However, lets just dwell on a few things here. I think I heard Humphrey very recently dipped into his piggy bank and shelled out ?2.5 million for yet another chunk of the Tadcaster countryside to add to all the rest. On that basis, I don't think it's too far-fetched to suggest that the rest of Tadcaster that he owns must be worth upwards of ?50 million or so.

The valuation of the company from 1982 doesn't really tell us much because I'm sure all the family assests are spread around numerous trusts and not all designated as subsidiary companies of SSOB - many are, but I bet many are not. There have been numerous aquistions since 1982 as well and we have no way of knowing how these were financed. My guess is all by cash - certainly no mortgages as that would mean registering the details at the Land Registry - and nothing has ever surfaced about that on here. It's only a hunch, but I feel Humphrey's attitude to development is very old fashioned - he funds it all from cash out of the piggy bank - and it must be some huge pig - for example the cost of just one pub project - John Raikes's House in Gloucester - was ?8.5 million. The Princess Louise in London was ?2.5 million. Even the Spread Eagle in Nostell was ?750,000. Then there's the Dynelely Arms and Angel Leeds both hugely expensive to name but two more.

The point I'm making is that he doesn't just have vast capital assets in the form of property, he seems to have access to vast sums of cash to fund both steady aquisition and improvement. My gut feeling is that he owns lots of property that is let out and not trading as SSOB. My guesstimate is that if Humphrey Smith and his family featured in the Sunday Times Rich List they would be at least in the region of ?1.5 billion. But we will never know and the fun will have to continue for a bit longer yet.